National Centre of Excellence

Extended Reality Technology

• It is an umbrella term used to describe all  immersive technologies that can merge the physical and virtual worlds
• Types: Various types of immersive technologies are,
  • Augmented Reality (AR): Here the virtual information and objects are overlaid on the real world  enhancing  the real world with digital details such as images, text, and animation. 
    • There is not complete  isolation  from the real world and users can still experience the real world. 
    • Examples: Pokémon GO game overlays the digital creatures onto the real world or Snapchat filters putting  digital objects such as hats or glasses onto your head.
  • Virtual Reality (VR): Here the users are fully immersed in a simulated digital environment where the individuals needs to put on a VR headset or head-mounted display to get a 360 -degree view of an artificial world that fools the brain 
    • Example: The gaming and entertainment industry were early adopters of this technology, however, it is finding use cases in other industries as well like healthcare, construction, engineering, the military
  • Mixed/Hybrid Reality: The digital and real-world objects co-exist and can interact with one another in real-time here.
    • It requires an MR headset and a lot more processing power than VR or AR.
    • Example: Microsoft’s HoloLens allows you to place digital objects into the room you are standing in and give you the ability to spin it around or interact with the digital object in any way possible.
• Application: There are many practical applications of XR like,
  • Retail: XR gives customers the ability to try before they buy. For Example the furniture company IKEA provides customers to try placing the furniture items into their home via their smartphone.
  • Training:  XR can provide training tools that are hyper-realistic, especially in life-and-death circumstances to help soldiers, healthcare professionals, pilots/astronauts etc.
  • Remote work: Workers can connect to the home office or with professionals located around the world in a way that makes both sides feel like they are in the same room.
  • Real estate: Finding buyers or tenants might be easier if individuals can “walk through” spaces to decide if they want it even when they are in some other location.